The Clubs of Bamako featured photographs by Malick Sidibé and sculpture by Emile Guebehi and Nicolas Damas, documenting the nightlife in the clubs of Bamako, Mali, from the late 1950s through the mid-’70s. Sidibé explained, “I used to go to five different parties every Saturday night. I was everywhere. Wherever I went, people said, ‘Malick photographer is here!’ I was looking for the most joyful and frivolous moments so that l could take the pictures I liked.”

Sidibé opened Studio Malick in the center of Bamako in 1958, where it became a gathering place for the younger generation. The nightlife in Bamako was especially lively during the late ’50s and ’60s. Many clubs were formed, with wonderful names such as the Happy Boys Club and Les Surfs. The clubs played the latest music from England, France, and America as well as the Mali Twist. Sidibé’s photographs capture the jubilant mood. His work also documents the creative fashions worn by clubgoers—the wild combinations of traditional African patterns and Western clothing, bell-bottoms, and platform shoes. Sidibé’s exuberant images open our eyes to an Africa completely different from old stereotypes.

The exhibition also included sculpture by the brothers Emile Guebehi and Nicolas Damas, inspired by the photographs of Sidibé. Guebehi and Damas were commissioned by the gallery to make life-size polychrome wood sculptures based on figures in Sidibé’s photographs. The sculptures were displayed alongside the photographs to give the viewer the experience of being inside a Bamako nightclub.